Department of Paediatrics and Child Health
Staff
Prof Regan Solomons
Prof Regan Solomons, MBChB, PhD, is a paediatric neurologist. He is currently a full professor and Executive Head of Paediatrics and Child health at Tygerberg Hospital and the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University. He obtained his MBChB from UCT in 1998, an MMed(Paed) from Stellenbosch University in 2006 and the Certificate in Paediatric Neurology in 2009. He obtained a joint PhD on the early diagnosis of TBM in children at Vrije University Amsterdam & Stellenbosch University in 2015.
His field of study is paediatric neurology with a research interest in neuro-infectious diseases (especially tuberculous meningitis), neuro-metabolic disease, neonatal neurology and the use of next-generation sequencing in an Africa paediatric neurology setting. He considers himself a clinician and advocate for paediatrics and child health first, and a scientist second. All of his research stems from questioning the status quo in the South Africa resource-constrained paediatric setting and hopefully improve the healthcare status of the children that are underserved. His main focus has been in the field of childhood tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and his work has added unique insights into the understanding of childhood TBM diagnosis, complications and treatment. He is considered a global expert in childhood TBM and aims to build on its understanding by further research and collaborations. He has written on various aspects of TBM, including collaborative reviews and a book chapter. He has 71 peer-reviewed publications and a scopus h-index of 19. He is an established member of the International TBM Consortium and considered a global expert on Paediatric TBM, which includes a collaborative effort in understanding TBM, epidemiology, -omics diagnostics, complications especially stroke, treatment and advocacy.
He enjoys teaching, and transferring knowledge on clinical reasoning in paediatrics. He is passionate about mentoring under- and postgraduate students, and enjoys supervising postgraduate students. He serves on the executive committee of the Paediatric Neurology and and Development Association of South Africa, and the Tuberculous Meningitis International Research Consortium. He has contributed to WHO expert consultation panels on a shorter regimen for paediatric TBM (the WHO has adopted the short 'Cape Town' regimen for drug susceptible TBM in children).
